Star bats­man de Villiers was ruled out of the series with a left el­bow in­jury that re­quired surgery with du Plessis seam­lessly tak­ing over.

His vi­sion has been praised in steer­ing the team to an unas­sail­able 2-0 lead. A win in the fi­nal day-night Test in Ade­laide next week will con­sign Aus­tralia to their first home series white­wash in history.

De­spite this, se­lec­tors are not con­sid­er­ing pro­mot­ing du Plessis to do the job full-time.

“At the mo­ment it’s clear to us that Faf is stand-in cap­tain and AB is the cur­rent cap­tain when he comes back,” chair­man of se­lec­tors Linda Zondi told re­porters in Ho­bart late Wed­nes­day. “AB is still the cap­tain.”

Of­fi­cials hope de Villiers will be fit for the home series against Sri Lanka, start­ing on Dec 26.

“We will be guided (as to when he can play) by the med­i­cal team in terms of where he is and in terms of match fit­ness,” Zondi said.

“He has been away for five months – a long time. For starters, he has to be match fit.”